The UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns have scheduled a 2014/16 home-and-home football series with Boise State as well as future games against Akron and Southern, the school announced today.

UL Lafayette will travel to face Boise State at Bronco Stadium on Sept. 20, 2014. The Cajuns will then host the Broncos at Cajun Field on Sept. 3, 2016 to complete the home-and-home series. The two schools have never met in football.

“We are always looking for a home-and-home series against a team that our fans will enjoy watching. To get a team like Boise State to visit speaks volumes about how far this program has come in recent years,” Ragin’ Cajuns director of athletics Scott Farmer said.

The Ragin’ Cajuns also announced that they will open the 2014 season at home against Southern on Aug. 30. That game completes their 2014 non-conference schedule, which also includes trips to Ole Miss and Boise State and a home game against Louisiana Tech.

In 2015, UL Lafayette will open the season on Sept. 5 against a BCS team to be announced. The Cajuns will then host Akron on either Sept. 19 or Sept. 26, followed by a trip to Louisiana Tech on Oct. 3. One more game is needed to complete the 2015 schedule.

UL Lafayette needs two more games to complete their 2016 slate. They open at home against Boise State on Sept. 3 and later travel to Tulane on Oct. 8.

“We have been able to put together schedules for the next couple of seasons that follow the blueprint we desire,” Farmer said.

Comments (41)

The lack of response on this posting is indicative of the sadness with which the Boise State fan base greets this series. Another cupcake series with a visit to an even smaller stadium than Boise’s odd looking little field. Louisiana Lafayette has a 1 win 22 loss record against BCS teams since 2002 with a 19-15 win over Kansas State in 2008. Cudos to the Boise State AD for another meaningless series against a no name opponent which does nothing to advance Boise’s case. With Southern Miss and UT Martin in 2013, Lousiana Lafayette in 2014 and 2016 and Troy in 2017 and 2018 we have 6 years to endure until these meaningless games are behind us.

I would love to hear from someone who has the ability to defend this weak scheduling and how it does any good for Boise with their weak MWC schedule Any takers?

Yeah this isn’t a sexy scheduling but you’re not looking at the individual years here. BSU is playing an away/neutral site game in 2014 against Mississippi (who just had a huge recruiting class and probably won’t be in the SEC cellar in the future) and at Connecticut, not a powerhouse but recently in a BCS game, against BYU (always respectable) and UL-Lafayette. 2014 looks like a decent schedule, and MWC is still better than the other mid-major conferences with Nevada, San Diego State, Fresno State, Utah State (and maybe San Jose State if last year wasn’t a fluke — they’ve been pretty bad until last year).

The other years when they play LUL and Troy they also play BCS conferences (although not the powers of the conferences — Washington State, Oregon State and Virginia) … I am fine with this. You can’t schedule all top 5 league out of conference and still make it to the larger bowl, you need a few, and look at Florida State and Michigan State — had to schedule those almost a decade in advance for the bigger schools.

And LUL were a few late freak plays from beating Florida, and did win their bowl game (and give us Jake Delhomme haha!) it’s not like it’s Stony Brook.

I’ll concede that 2013 schedule doesn’t look good, but 2014 onward I like the direction and it’s following the direction of future football scheduling — going to regions where you have less exposure (northeast and the south). I’d like a few more SEC games scheduled but aren’t they partnering up with the Big 12? You can easily pluck those teams Troy, LUL and UT-M, but looking at who else they’re playing in those seasons (beside UT-M), I think it’s fine. And they’re not gonna yet compete with recruiting in the south against the SEC/Big 12, might as well play some mid major southern teams and beat them and increase their recruiting capabilities in those areas for the three star potential four star recruits. College football has largely become an entity to increase geographical footprints. Yeah, you’re not gonna win over an Auburn recruit by beating Troy, but you could get some midline Alabama players interested.

MY argument is that in and of itself, their out of conference schedule needs to be much better to compensate for the weakness of 8 MWC conference games. Why they schedule so many games against no name sunbelt teams who average 15,000-25,000 per home game on a home and home basis escapes me. Wins over those teams do nothing for you and loss to any of them wrecks your season. They could have gotten a 1 for 2 with any number of top 25 teams, packed Bronco stadium and made a $1,000,000 plus on each trip. Any road loss would be expected, and any win would catapult you up the ladder. Wyoming did this getting Texas, Texas A & M Nebraska and Mississippi coming to Laramie to play in an even dinkier stadium than Boise has. Fresno had one with Wisconsin, Nevada has done it in the future with UCLA. Boise needs exposure to the Big 12, Big Ten, non northwest Pac12 schools and the SEC. These Sunbelt schools and UT Martin stink. A loss to any of them will be devastating.

Texas would rather do a home and home with Wyoming I am sure. Wisconsin would rather play Fresno State and Nevada, I am sure of it. The only big league team that has beaten Boise State on their bigger schedulings has been Michigan State in a BSU/MSU rebuilding year. If Texas offered BSU a home and home I AM SURE THEY’D TAKE IT. Texas would be less likely to lose to Wyoming than BSU and BSU is only looking for home and homes. They have Mississippi, Michigan State and Florida State scheduled! Fresno State tried to build their entire program over four years — they got respect one year knocking off a few (losing to BSU when they looked like the original BCS buster, FSU that is) but once they started losing to those teams their program suffered. The best way to build is a little slower and with Big 5 conferences. Every year they are playing a Sun Belt team they are playing two members of a larger conference. Maybe one of the upcoming years a team from one of the Bigs will have to schedule a make up game from an FCS opponent, a la Arkansas vs Rutgers last year, and BSU can step in. The bigger picture is fine. MWC isn’t a cellar conference like the Sun Belt. They have BYU every year, and two Big 5 games almost every year (except this year). I’ll agree that UT-M is a bad choice, but so far I like all their future scheduling. We can’t follow the Fresno model, if you have one off year you’re cast aside — better to have two to three solid out of conference games a year through the home and home model so that there’s a rematch and fairness in the matchup over two years, than to schedule all the bigs away and lose the structure that you’re building. I don’t think you guys fully understand. If Texas and Wisconsin offered Boise State a home and home, I am sure they’d take it. MSU and FSU prove this. They’ll also do one-offs vs SEC. But the Big 12, yeah, I’m sure they’re just waiting for a home and home offer. Hell, TCU would be amazing, we had a good rivalry with them through bowl games and one year in the MWC. Oklahoma should schedule a home and home to attempt to avenge themselves. You know BSU ain’t gonna do a one there. They already proved they deserve a home and home.

Well Ron, you obviously have all the answers, but you aren’t the guy sitting in the Athletic Dept. office making the calls. There are a good set of reasons why these are the games they are getting, and it is not a disaster by any means. The fact is Boise State is Boise State, they are not going to become Ohio State or USC or Alabama next week or next year. I would like to see them get Ohio State and USC on the schedule, but raising the profile of their program incrementally over a number of years actually makes a lot of sense. Go back and look at who they have played over the past 15 years or so. The long term trajectory of their program as far as quality of scheduling goes is fine.

Herm, I guess we will just have to agree to disagree. Their population base, lack of resources and and location will preclude them from ever becoming a member of the elite group that spoke of. MY complaint is that agreeing to home and homes with schools of much lower stature and no financial benefit, i.e Troy and UL Lafayette has no benefit. I would agree to a one and done @ home with those guys. Even Oregon State is going to Michigan in 2015 and Boise needs to being a game like that. UT Martin is a glorified high school program, playing in a 7,500 seat stadium and 3 total BCS games in its history (all wipe outs). After 2008-2011, with the Oregon series and trips to Virginia Tech and Georgia, the program has no high profile teams until Florida State many years from now. To me, the program has takena step back from this type of scheduling. Please do not give me the argument about Ole Miss and their one year of recruiting, they are still an SEC bottom feeder, and BYU and Washington, while respectable programs are nothing on the national scene and do not generate the buzz of a Geogia, Oregon or Virginia Tech. Now maybe, the Kellen Moore era was a once in generation thing and that is why the scheduling is being softened with maximizing wins against lesser competition rather than raising the stature of the program. The UW did the same thing with their dumbing down the schedule with Eastern Washington (who nearly beat them 2 seasons ago) , Portland State, Georgia State and Montana in 2017. The argument is that these BCS teams can do that because they are in stronger leagues with far tougher competition every week. Boise cannot make the argument in the MWC with the likes of Nerw Mexico, Wyoming, UNLV and Colorado State. I would like to see the trajectory of the program elevated and believe that such a gradualist effort is not the way to get there . UT Martin, La Lafayette, and Troy will leave thousands of empty seats in Bronco stadium and nothing for stadium expansion let alone name recognition nationwide.

I’m pretty sure that the SEC-Big 12 scheduling alliance is complicating matters here. We are looking at Pac-12 and ACC because they don’t have those future agreements. That’s my take anyway. I don’t think Oregon wants to reschedule that series now that they’re in national contention every year and we owned that series. Too much for them to lose. You can bring up the bottom MWC teams like every conference, the ones at the top are decent. I’m not arguing that UL-L/Troy are great additions. I just think it’s a little tougher than you’re saying Schedule Texas!! Schedule Michigan!! Michigan blocked BSU from playing them in the Orange Bowl when they were way more deserving than VT. The era of Oregon, VT, Georgia was testing to see if BSU was for real, and now that it was shown that they can beat them BSU is going after home and homes, which I think they’ve earned, but the largest programs probably aren’t interested and they, themselves the SEC teams, would also rather play LU-L and Troy. And …. We’ll see about Mississippi. You can’t write off a team two years in advance.

Okay, so you are a little bit lukewarm about the barn burner of a matchup with the mighty Skyhawks of UT Martin, I can see that. I would rather see them playing Ohio State too. It just seems like they have a little ways to go to be able to make those happen more consistently. But if you go back 10 years ago their schedule was more littered with Weber States and Eastern Washingtons, so at least it is moving in the right direction, if not as fast as we would like.

I hope that Boise State has the same opinion Ron has of the Ragin’ Cajuns. Just treat it as a practice game and prepare to coast to a win. Florida had the same mentality. Also, by 2016 when BSU comes in, the stadium will probably be expanded.

MY complaint with the scheduling of southern no names is that they do nothing for you to compensated for the soft MWC schedule. With Troy and LA Lafayette you have to travel 2,000 to play in front even smaller crowds than Boise draws against teams with no name, make no money and give the critics more ammo to argue about your weak scheduling. A one @ home 2 away series as was signed with Michigan State would do more for you and in those years of 2 away out of league game sign up a Montana or Eastern Washington for a home game. With no top 20 teams scheduled to appear until 2020 (Florida State) it is hard to get excited.

Look @ the BCS records of these 3 southern no names.

UT Martin 0-3 alltime with losses to Miss St. 55-17 in 2011, 50-0 Tennessee in 2010, 56-3 to South Florida in 20007.

La-Lafayette 1 win 27 losses since 2000.

Troy 3 wins 32 losses since 2000.

Southern Miss ,for all their so called history is 9 wins 18 losses against BCS teams since 2000.

Well , Johnny It looks like ULL or Louisiana or Louisiana/Lafayette or whatever your name is did not bring their A game to Boise. now we have to wait 2 more years before we head south and wallop you just as we have done against Southern Miss, another weak has been non power5 conference team playing in small half filled stadiums against other nobodies.

Herm, the Earth rotates around the sun; but you seem to think it rotates around Boise St. Believe it or not the other teams schedule for their own agendum. The other AD’s don’t wake up in the morning and say “How can we make Boise St. better.”

Scheduling requires a team having a match for a home gmae when Boise wants a road game AND a match for a road game when Boise needs to be at home.

Also; Boise is not an appealing destination for most fans. I have been there and it is a lovely city; but it is remote; has very few nonstop flights compared to many other places; a lack of first class hotel rooms; and much of the attraction of visiting there is the open wilderness and that is of little interest to a fan who flies in Friday night and flies home Sunday morning.

Let’s pick a medium BCS team for an example. Let’s say you are an AD and are considering Boise or Vanderbilt. Would the well-heeled boosters who buy the travel packages rather go to Nashville or Boise? For most of the country, Nashville is an easier, cheaper and more fun trip. What if they are playing NCSU? Minnesota? South Florida? Arizona State?

If you are honest with yourself, you have to admit that not a lot of people are hoping to visit Boise over those cities. Chances are they can fly there without spending 2 hours in Denver or SLC. And most importantly; they can get a decent seat. Boise has a small stadium, and you locals pretty much fill it. Where do the visiting fans sit?

You were lucky to get a 2 for 1 deal with MSU; and you have to expect that it might be once every 5 or 6 seasons that you get a home game like that level.

Don’t assume your AD wanted ULL; assume that was the best team available.

With the track around the field, Boise fans sit far from the action. Most if not all stadium remodels today involve removing the track (not slopping a cheap coat of black paint over it), lowering the field and adding closer seating , not putting in end zone bleachers which is Boise has done since 1997 that will need to be removed if they live up to the design plan of the expansion project announced in 2010. A stadium in the 50,000 plus range is what will be need to move up to better conference , attracting higher quality teams, selling higher priced tickets, and getting a better TV deal that helps to pay the bills.

If Boise is content to being a big fish in a small pond (WAC and MWC) then not much further needs to be done and they can continue on their merry way.

I may piss off a lot of people in Bronco nation; but I think if they overhaul the stadium like you described; it would be a good time to get rid of the Smurf turf and either put in natural grass, or at the very least something that looks like.

I understand why they did the blue turf, when they put it in Boise was a nothing program who still played rivalry games against schools like Weber and EWU.

Since then, you joined FBS and had a lot of good years and a few great ones. It is time to stop being known for a blue field; and be known for a successful on the field program.

Bill, I am not sure if you misunderstood me or mistook someone else’s post for mine. I basically agree with most everything you said, and I don’t think I said anything to the contrary. Boise has to climb gradually, for a whole set of reasons, not the least of which is that there has to be something in it for other schools to want to put them on the schedule. If you are a top-20 BCS conference team, what is the upside of scheduling a game in Boise? Maybe not much, especially in comparison to who else you might be able to fill your OOC schedule with. For example, go to South Bend and play Notre Dame, or take a trip to Boise? I think I know which of those about 9 out of 10 teams would choose.

I can hardly wait to hear the excuses, Boise is too tough , we couldn’t come to a scheduling agreement, they don’t want to play us again, or here is a new one, Lafayette, Troy and UT Martin were so attractive that we had to snub the previously mentioned to play these traditional powers.

If you would like to see the record of UT Martin, Troy and La Lafayette against the BCS since 2000, they are as follows:

We want wins more than anything is the real mantra and that with middle of the road Virginia, Washington State and Connecticut in the future and the possibility that Boise could go into a slump we need to prepare for that day. Who knows if Florida State or Michigan State will even show up? They have deep enough pockets to buy their way out if they decide to do so.

I don’t know about UT-Martin, but Troy has actually gotten worse. They used to rule in the Sun Belt and basically kick everyone’s ass every year. South Alabama moved to FBS in football and it appears that they took some of their talent. We have beat them badly the last two years after getting beat by them for a good 10 years. If all goes well and he doesn’t go into the draft, in 2014 our quarterback, Terrance Broadway, will be a senior so BSU should get their money’s worth. If BSU fans think that they will fall asleep during the game against the Ragin’ Cajuns, I want to give you guys some hope. The quarterback is a dual threat who is as fast as a DB, four receivers/tight ends are over 6’4″, multiple defensive lineman are over 300-lbs. It will be fun. Any chance that the turf will be changed to green before 2014? Look, it didn’t help them to beat San Diego State, so maybe there is no magic in it.

As a BSU fan I feel good about the matchup with ULL, they are a worthy opponent. But the gold standard going forward will be qualifying for one of the 4 College Football Playoff spots, to have a shot at that out of the Mt. West really means all OOC games have to be quality. This year’s games against UT Martin and So. Miss are a done deal, but looking forward the series with Troy is the one real eyebrow-raiser. Other than that their OOC schedule is now (tentatively at least) filled for the next six seasons, with the exception of one open home date in 2015. And the quality overall looks really good, but it will be interesting to see how they fill that open date in Boise. They don’t need to play Weber State, they need Nebraska or Notre Dame. How to get them to come to Boise is the question.

I understand that you want your team to play top 10 teams, but there are only a few of them. There is a chance that the Ragin’ Cajuns will crack the top 25 by 2014 when they roll into Boise. I am planning on making the long trip from Louisiana to Idaho. I will enjoy seeing the shock on the faces of the Boise fans when this game turns into a big fight. By reading these comments I know that there will be a lot of really surprised fans. I am not the only one from Cajun Country that will be there. I can’t wait until this game happens in 2014!

Well Nampa, how about total physical domination of WKU and Arkansas State? Did you watch those Tuesday night games? I have watched some Boise State games this year and they look like basketball games. A whole lot of throwing it around. We will see if Boise State can match the Cajuns in the trenches.

Johnny , When ULL beats some BCS teams then I will believe. I agree with you on Boise, this is their worst team in 10 years and the only reason they are so high up in the Mountain West is that with the departure of Utah,BYU and TCU and the addition of San Jose, Hawaii and the other WAC teams the league is only a weak shell of what is used to be.

Perhaps Boise could play ULL this year in the “Who Gives a Rats Ass Bowl”?

Robert, I would like to see them play Boise in a bowl game, but I have no idea how this could happen. Boise in the New Orleans Bowl would be great! Have you seen our new running back, Elijah McGuire, who is leading the nation in yards per carry? He is a beast with amazing feet.

This is going to be a good game. UL brings back 18 starters, including the QB and the running backs. A couple of really good transfers should fill the holes on the defensive side. To make things even more interesting, Hudspeth and Harsin met each other in a game this year at Arkansas State. They both know about how the other likes to coach. I am planning on going to this game. This is going to be a “cupcake” for BSU, a cupcake that is going to be filled with hot sauce and it is going to make your mouth feel like it is on fire!

Boise sucks and getting worse every year!!! no way they deserve a shot at my LSU tigers, the SEC or any other major conference for that matter, not even close to the same level of play! Be fortunate our little brother school is willing to play you and if you win in 2014 be grateful because the cajuns are going to tear you up in 2016! don’t underestimate a team you obviously know little about and keep trying to act like your a big league school when clearly your not!! Utah to the Pac 12, TCU to the Big 12 and Boise had a choice between staying in the mtn west or a crumbling big east. same level conferences as the sun belt (Louisiana Lafayette)! The sooner you figure out Boise isn’t going anywhere and aren’t anything special anymore the better off you’ll be. and remember that 2016 in Lafayette the Broncos have a Cajun style ass whoopin coming, you’ve been warned so no crying!

Yes Louisianafan28, they think they are a big time program that will be going for a national title. They could not handle the Oregon State rushing attack (which really didn’t even exist). Just wait until that big boy Alonzo Harris starts ripping through the line and McGuire (with the sickest feet I have ever seen) makes them look silly and break their ankles trying to catch him. I can’t wait and I will be there in Boise for that one if possible. They also have no idea what they will be stepping into in 2016. They stadium expansion is going on right now to add 6,000 more seats. We will have room if BSU fans want to come. They will also get all of the free food they want before the game because Cajuns are pretty good people.

Blake Are you ready to change your crawfish for crow after the 34-9 beatdown? On a positive note, you only lost by 25-a 17 point improvement from your meltdown @Ole Miss. Bring on Nichols State and UT/Martin-that deems to be more your speed.

I feel like that is pretty much how it is being Boise State. I think they need to hitch their wagon to a program in search of an upgrade like BYU and get promoted to a power conference like the Big 12 or the Pac-12.